Burning Leaves
by Lyra Kamiya
Summary: Street racing AU... Konoha's best racers have one thing in common: a love of speed and danger. Multiple pairings both now and eventually, but it's mostly about cars, speed, deception, and revenge.
1. Chapter 1

I've updated to fix some of the mistakes in my early chapters. To everyone reading this story for the first time, hello, welcome, and I hope you like cars at least a little bit. To everyone joining me again, great to have you back.

I've been having a time and a half trying to write on Habits or really anything, including this, so forgive me if I'm a little slow. I'm doing my best to make each chapter worth the wait, though.

I'm normally quite against AUs, but this story begged to be written. I think you'll find all the characters you know and love, along with some you hate, intact aside from the whole "ninja" part.

**Burning Leaves**

Everything else in the world seemed silent compared to the roar of twin engines as they swung down the road, hugging the mountain curves. Both vehicles were jet black to blend into the night, but each bore it's own identifier on the hood; one a trio of red swirls, the other a classic yin-yang. Aside from those emblems, the cars were all but the same inside and out, from the model to the tires to the horsepower. Even the two drivers were alike: both men were calm, cool, collected men, barely over twenty, their long hair pulled back in ponytails.

The only reason she cared who would win that night was because one was her brother, and the other was not.

That night, though, everyone would lose.

What happened was unclear; perhaps it was as simple as a blown tire, or maybe their brakes finally gave way after ages of abuse, despite their loyal maintenance. Certainly, it couldn't have been error on the part of either man, as both had been driving - and racing - longer than legally possible.

Cause aside, the effect was simple, obvious, and horrifying. One second the white was trying to pass the red at a turn, their side mirrors just inches apart. The next, both had launched off the cliff, tearing straight through the guardrail.

If there was a boom when the cars hit the river thirty feet below, she never heard it. Her own terrified voice overwhelmed everything else, echoing through the December air:

"NEJI!"

The scene, that night, _everything_ was gone, replaced by pale walls and the backlit outline of a window. Only her scream remained, and the pain in her heart as she shivered, struggling to catch her breath.

Wordlessly, a pair of arms wrapped around her, pulling her into their owner's warm, strong chest. She whimpered, nuzzling into him, eyes shut tightly as she struggled to stop crying, her body tense with fear.

"It's okay, Hinata," he whispered. "I'm here. It's over."

Tonight it had been exactly seven years since her brother had died in that accident. It was probably about the right time of night, as well. The nightmare had stuck with her almost every night for the first year, and had scared her out of even driving to school each day for some time. Thankfully, it only came once a year now, but that night was always the hardest...

"Naruto... I miss him..." Her words were a raspy whisper between rough breaths.

"I know you do, sweetheart. You're safe though, so his memory can live on..."

She nodded quietly, sighing against his chest and letting her back loosen slightly. It was true; she did live on, and partially as Neji's legacy, though she knew she was just his shadow and always would be. After his death, she'd shied away from the sharp curves and lightning reactions of drifting, but her love of cars and speed had remained. Instead, she raced along straightaways and down the freeway, for the sheer pleasure of it and the occasional small bet; it was nothing more than a time-killer to her, no matter how much it was in her blood.

The big money, the big races... she left those to Naruto. He had a love of speed that ran so deep, people called him a demon for it. His car had been tweaked time and time again in the three years he'd owned it, and they worked together as a perfect team, enabling him to out-drive and outrun anything. His nearly insane speed and laid back demeanor had drawn her to him, and she loved nothing more than to try to keep up with him, or to just sit back and enjoy the ride as he sped down the highway. He made it look so safe, so easy, that any knowledge of the risk could just float away from her mind on those rides.

But he'd never known Neji. He'd heard of him, of course; he'd been a legend in his own time, famous perhaps even before getting his license. No one who raced within fifty miles of Konoha didn't know of him, and everyone considered him "_the_ man to beat". But Naruto had never actually met her older brother, never knew what kind of person he was or how close and protective he really was to Hinata. Those things, he only knew by her own words, and she felt for certain that those could never do him justice.

Her hand wrapped around the teardrop pendant hanging from her neck, and his arms grew tighter at the motion, knowing another wave of tears was coming. Just days before the fateful race, she'd turned 16, and he'd given her one half of a yin-yang necklace for the occasion. The black half hung from his keychain, even as it was removed from the mangled wreck.

That half now hung from the mirror of her own car, so that he'd always be able to enjoy racing...

She cried, and he held her until she fell victim to exhaustion. He tucked her back in and laid back down to try and sleep again himself, though he quickly found himself wondering how the race's other victim was faring that night.

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Across town, the crisply silver Spyder weaved through the one way roads of downtown. He was on his way out, on his way up to the foothills, to _that_ spot, because it was _that_ night. He went there at twice a year, every year, regardless of how many other times his ventures took him there.

He had no fear of the police, even as his tires sprayed tread across an intersection, bringing him onto the freeway. His dad was a Sheriff, and even if his knowledge of tonight's trap locations was incomplete, no one was about to pick _him_ up, especially not tonight. They knew better.

And even if they tried, Sasuke could out run them without even trying.

He crossed over into the median, mirror and tires just inches away from the concrete divider, the glowing outline of his windshield skimming over the seats again and again, faster and faster as he accelerated. Eighty, ninety, one hundred… He didn't lay off the gas until he was going over one twenty, and even then he was still speeding up gradually. He dove between what few cars were on the road tonight, not because they were in his way but because it was good practice. Anything to stay sharp. Anything to remain the best.

And he was, of course, the best. His brother had been the best, too, so it was only natural for him to rise to the top, to beat this city at its own game. When one fell, the next needed to take up the legacy.

His only regret was that he couldn't beat the one who'd taken his brother away from him seven years before. Of course, the bastard had died in the process, so he felt somewhat satisfied.

Not wholly so, though. But not even being the undisputed best in the city satiated him.

Which was why, time and time again, he found himself back on that road, winding his way in and out, with or without an opponent. He'd beaten everyone who'd challenged him to that track – for some reason people found it funny, even ironic to ask him to race there, like a joke that never got old. But somehow, it wasn't good enough.

Maybe because he'd never found a challenge. They were all just too weak, too slow.

Maybe he wouldn't be happy until he followed his brother's fate completely. He wasn't sure. The thought did cross his mind on occasion, though, and more often than he'd ever admit. It was as though he knew it was his fate to be taken by the mountain as well.

He screeched to a halt at the top, tires sliding on the thin layer of gravel covering the poorly maintained road, and stared down at the hairpin turns and cliffs, to the river far below. The bridge across was the finish line.

One hand dropped to the gearshift as his eyes locked on his watch.

Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine-

Gas.

Pedal to the floor, let up, clutch, shift, and pedal to the floor again. He didn't have enough speed to need to skid around the first turn, but at the second, he pumped his hand brake, drifting 90 degrees and hammering the gas as he straightened out. Another shift, then three more quick turns, on and on down the hill. The whole track was five miles long, and took twenty minutes doing the speed limit.

He could make it in under four.

Several turns later, he slammed the parking brake on and stared at his watch.

00:03:16.78

There had been less than forty seconds left in the race when Itachi's car had been shoved off the road.

He stared down the cliff for at least a full minute, then backed up, making full use of his car's tight turning radius on the narrow road, and headed back up to try again.

That time, he crossed the bridge with a time of 4:08. Pathetic. He'd have to try again tomorrow night.


	2. Chapter 2

1Hinata was quiet as she watched Naruto tweak the engine of his Acura, curiously observing. She didn't know how to do much with her own car aside from change the oil or the tires, but those were the important things, and she had Naruto and Tenten to do the rest for her. Noticing him wiped his forehead on one arm, she smiled and stood, offering him a rag from the bench nearby. He flashed her a grin, and started to ask for some part or another-

When Hinata found herself on the floor, underneath one big, white, shaggy wolf-dog. One extremely affectionate big, white, shaggy wolf-dog.

"Yo, Naruto, Hinata! How're you guys doin?"

Naruto flashed a look back at the newcomer, helping Hinata stand back up before greeting him. "Kiba, what're you doing here? Thought you had work?"

"I got fired," he shrugged, grin not fading for even an instant. "I think it's cause I beat the owner's son in a race."

"I'm sure you did," Naruto chided. "If that's so, where's your car now?" He flashed Hinata a knowing smile, and she giggled, leaning over to pet Akamaru.

"Ah, well," he laughed nervously. "I totaled it out by exit 76 last night."

"Again? Kiba, that's gotta be your third car this year! That's ridiculous!" He grumbled something inaudible. "What was that?"

"Fourth," he repeated. "Fourth, if you're counting full years."

Hinata was staring at him in surprise. "And you're still alive? And not even in the hospital? How?"

"Eh, what can I say. Seatbelts and air bags, marvels of modern technology!"

"Tell that to your left leg! You've got to have broken it four times-"

"Three," he corrected.

"Fine, three," Naruto continued, "but still, THREE times in five years? Not to mention the damage to your kidney, liver-"

"I get your point," he sighed. "Quit rubbing it in. I take too many risks, one of these days I'm gonna get killed, blah blah blah, HEARD IT ALL BEFORE. And yet here I stand before you. I'm fucking immortal, I tell you, and if it turns out I'm not, then at least I'll have died in an awesome way."

"Kiba-kun," Hinata sighed, "please be more careful? There's always a chance of being badly injured without dying..."

He groaned and scratched the back of his head a little, looking between the two of them. "I guess I can try to be a little more cautious. Hospital bills do get kind of expensive..." He dropped to his haunches, scratching Akamaru for a minute before continuing casually, "Speaking of which..."

"Uh-uh, no way, forget it," Naruto said before he even finished the thought. "You owe me enough as is, Kiba. You go through more cars in a year than the rest of us have gone through since we started driving. I'm through giving you loans and I sure as hell ain't giving you a new ride."

"C'mon, man! I need something, at least to get around town in. No way can I pick up chicks on foot, let alone get to work on time." Both his friends raised eyebrows at him, and even his dog seemed to give him a look. "When I get a new job! You know what I mean!"

"Ask one of the others. I'm completely broke right now too, so I can't help you."

"Broke? How can you be broke man, with the way you win?"

Shyly, Hinata looked up and held up her hand, flashing a gold ring wrapped around her finger.

"Oh."

"Some of us have our priorities in order and know how to save money for the things we want."

"So you're gonna let me be the best man, right?" Kiba asked with a grin, scratching behind his ear.

"As long as you're flea and tick free, I'll think about it. Now, if you really need a ride, I can _loan_ you my old bike until you get something of your own, but that's all I can manage. I've gotta use what I've got left to get the brakes checked." He motioned over his shoulder at the car's open hood.

"Your bike? Man, I can't use that, where's Akamaru supposed to ride?" The half-dog barked to show he shared his owner's displeasure.

"Take it or leave it," Naruto shrugged.

"But... Akamaru..." Naruto held up one finger. "Chicks!" He held up another, and started on the third. "BRIGHT ORANGE, man! Bright orange! I can't-" The blond's last finger went up. "Alright, fine, it'll work for now. Where's it at?"

"My house. I'll take you back with us to pick it up, deal?"

Kiba nodded, and both boys grinned at each other, making Hinata giggle at how quickly they could go from faux-fighting to their typical demeanors.

A voice appeared behind them, clearing his throat quite clearly. All three turned to look at the new comer.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, lady... Can you direct me to the owner of this garage?" he asked, one wrist-banded arm waving dramatically.

Kiba shrugged. "Sure, man. She's gonna be in that room over there, if she's not working on somebody's car." He pointed, then cupped his hands around his mouth, calling, "HEY, TENTEN-CHAN! GUY IN A GREEN HOODIE HERE TO SEE YA!"

Instead of emerging from the room, the girl's head popped out from behind the hood of a jeep across the room. She waved, surveying the man, and called back, "Just a second!" before vanishing again. Kiba shrugged, looking back at the guy.

"Haven't seen you around before. You new in town?"

Naruto laughed, "Yeah, if Kiba hasn't seen you in the shop before, you've obviously never been here. He practically lives here, the way he goes through cars. What's your name, where's your car?"

His gaze, previously intently examining Kiba, flipped to the blond's face. "I need no car, friend, for I am Rock Lee, Konoha's number one motorcyclist!" His arm rose from his sweatshirt pocket, flashing a thumbs up their way along with a snow white grin.

The three friends looked between each other, Hinata sending them both dirty looks when they moved to swirl their hands in the "he's crazy" sign. "Nice to meet you," she offered. "I'm Hinata... This is my fiancé Naruto, and he's Kiba, and that's his dog Akamaru." Each nodded in turn, Akamaru barking and waving his tail in his own greeting.

Lee walked forward to shake each of their hands in turn. "The pleasure is mine. What a lucky man you are to have the love of a beautiful flower such as this," he told Naruto as he shook his.

The slam of the jeep's hood on the other side of the garage averted all four's attention. "Done!" Tenten announced, snatching up a towel and wiping her hands as she traversed the concrete floor. "How's everybody doing today?" They all gave passing responces, and she smiled, giving Akamaru a pat before turning towards Lee. "You must be..."

"Rock Lee, miss. We spoke on the phone?"

"Right," she nodded. "Where's your bike at?"

He dashed out of the garage, wheeling back in his motorcycle a minute later. Both boys raised their eyebrows at the vehicle, and the girls suppressed giggles as he parked it, posing proudly beside it. The bike was forest green with orange wheels and seat cover, matching the boy's sweats and accessories exactly.

"Looks like someone's got the same taste in colors you do, Naruto," Kiba teased, elbowing his friend and motioning to the orange. Sure enough, Naruto was wearing a jacket of nearly the same exact shade, except his was accented with more reasonable shades of black and orange.

His clothes did match his car, though, and so he stepped away from it, feeling a little awkward.

"So what's the problem?" Tenten asked, kneeling beside the bike.

"It's not fast enough," he stated simply.

She stared at him for a moment, looking a bit startled. "Not fast enough? This thing's gotta be capable of 120, easily, and even your best races aren't going to pass that. You've probably got the fastest bike in the region. Much faster and you're going to wind up dead."

"It's not the other motorcycles I'm trying to win against. It's the cars."


	3. Chapter 3

Been a long time, I know. NaNoWriMo kinda didn't happen for me this year, and then I got distracted.

But for your patience, you get the first race in what will hopefully be a grand many to come. I just hope that I've done well on this and that it continues to hold everyone's interest.

Thanks for all your kind reviews so far!

As always... the Naruto characters are Kishimoto's, but I do claim this storyline as my own.

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**Burning Leaves - 3**

The Parking Lot was essentially just a gravel patch that had been especially worn down by tire tracks compared to the surrounding plots of empty land. At one point, years ago, it had been scheduled for development into a drive-in theater. Why the construction had never progressed beyond some dirt and plants being shoved out of the way was anyone's guess, but the kids who hung around here weren't the types who cared.

They just liked that it was big, flat, secluded, and – most importantly – next to some of the longest, straightest stretches of road in the city. Sure, it was a bit out of the way, but that just meant that there was less of a chance of cops or random passerby getting in the way of their fun.

It was the weekend, so the assortment of the evening was mostly nobodies – the random teenagers who couldn't get out on weeknights or otherwise didn't have somewhere better and bigger to be on a Saturday night. They were the sort of teens that spent more time posturing, revving their engines, and talking big than actually racing. The more experienced racers liked to avoid them because they were the cause of most wrecks, and none of these punks had enough money to repair a paint job, let alone a multi-grand engine.

So whenever someone who looked like they really, truly knew what they were doing showed up on a Satuday, the youngsters were up and out and ready like dogs for a steak, their engines roaring impatiently.

Tonight was one of those nights.

The car skidded rather beautifully into the lot, dust spraying whoever was unfortunate enough to have parked near the road. As the cloud settled, a sharp outline of pale violet was visible, illuminated by nearby headlights. The color was broken only by the reflective black of slanted windows and a bold, excessively extravagant, blood red kanji centered in the long hood.

With a futuristic pop and whoosh, the door slid open and up a full ninety degrees, and possibly then some, but by then all attention was away from the door and instead on the curved tan legs emerging from said door. Followed quickly by what was clearly a very nice ass and rack, both (unfortunately) covered by form-fitting black leather in the form of a shirt and jacket.

She stood, leaning one elbow on the roof of her car as she surveyed the onlookers. Her ponytails bobbed just shy of comically as she glanced from car to car, sneering more and more as she obviously couldn't find what she was searching for.

Satisfied that whatever the hell she was looking for was, in fact_ not there_, she leaned back into her car (but not far enough for the closest males) and laid on her horn.

Loudly.

For at least a good fifteen seconds.

Just in case she hadn't already had everyone's attention.

Once the echo of the horn died out, she announced, "I'm looking for a certain asshole!" Raising her voice higher, she shouted, "My height, black hair, name's Nara. Any of you imbeciles heard of him?!"

There was silence in the Lot for a a few seconds. The less cocky kids didn't move at all, while the rest looked on, confused.

"At least one of you idiots must know where that bastard is!" Her temper was rising, and with her volume rather impossibly following suit, she continued, "Tell me and I won't call your fucking parents!!"

It took a minute before someone's door slammed. A guy stood alongside his car, six or seven cars away. "I know him," he called with a chuckle, a grin wide across half his face. "I'll tell you where to find him... if you beat me in a race."

She stared for a moment, licking her teeth as she considered the kid and his Chevy "Don't waste my time, brat," she growled, crossing her arms. "Don't waste my time, brat." Leaning back in her car she added coldly, "You're gonna race me with that piece of garbage? _Puh-lease_."

As the crowd started yelling in anticipation, the boy replied with smoothness, "Whatsa matter, sweetheart? You've got to be at least ten years older than me, your car's clearly cherry... Think you can't beat me on the three mile?"

The three mile was a triangular stretch of major road that involved two huge streets and part of the interstate that were all but vacant this time of night. It ended back in the Parking Lot, unless the cops wound up on the tail of either racer, in which case it ended as far away from there as possible while everyone in the Lot killed their lights.

The woman stared at the boy as she pointed to the crowd, snarling, "Get a fucking judge out there." She drove off without another word, hitting the street before her door had completely shut.

Ready at the light far before her opponent or any spectators arrived, her soft, growling engine overpowered the noises of the January night and the crowd. The car that slid up beside hers was larger, with a louder engine that roared repeatedly, and an even louder sound system that shook both cars and rattled nearby light posts, which electrified the crowd of teenagers more. The woman's car had speakers that easily matched her challenger's current volume, but she kept it off when she was on business.

Racing was part of her business.

The Porsche's engine idled calmly while the Chevy beside her roared constantly. Unlike this knucklehead, she believed in being nice to her engine, and that your bite should always be worse than your bark.

She also believed – strongly – in understatement.

When the light turned green she was through the intersection before the teenager even started moving, despite having a clutch, for the simple reason that she was watching the light while he was trying to look cool for the crowd.

The violet Porsche was going 150mph in less than 30 seconds, its acceleration punctuated by each stage of gears. In that time she'd nearly reached the onramp to the interstate. Somehow, though, the Chevy caught back up by that time.

The sharp curve was recommended at 45mph, but the blonde woman had seen it kill people at even that low speed. There was no question that she'd have to decelerate somewhat to get through it, but there was also a limit to how far she could brake before the kid passed her.

She slowed to 120mph just before hitting the ramp. Then, pushing her foot back into the gas just as she turned the wheel, she stabilized the car by putting the weight on the three "leading" wheels instead of the two that this sort of curve would normally cause the car to depend on.

The Chevy, however, waited till it hit the curve to brake, causing it to nearly skid into the shoulder and quickly fall even further behind. Her lead was over half the length of the ramp by the time she left it for the straightaway.

One and a half miles of practically straight road. This was where the heavier car would have an advantage. The woman's only hope was to stay ahead and hit the offramp before the Chevy...

But that would hardly be a problem. She hadn't even gone into fifth gear yet and she was already back at 150mph. While the red car following her was gaining, it was a slow gain and his engine was at its limit. The lack of modifications on the kid's car left it far less capable than the older girl's drastically upgraded Porsche.

In the end, it was a numbers game, and her car had won well before the race had begun. This kid was so far from a challenge for her that she decided not to go for the last shift, leaving her pedal half an inch from floored and the car steady at 165mph, taking the whole stretch of highway in under 45 seconds.

The exit was the last obstacle. While he wasn't going to get past her there, since his deceleration would take even more effort and time than hers, there was still the risk of crashing on her own. She'd grown up on this track, though, starting driving here over a decade earlier. She knew the best technique for taking the exit, and if she was lucky the kid would try to follow suit – and there was no way his car could handle the kind of maneuver she had in mind..

While she was no drifter, she was still very capable of doing a 90 degree skid in her car, as her entrance to the Lot had shown. Her lightweight Porsche could handle the move and she'd practiced the exact move at least twice as many times than the punk behind her had driven the Three Mile, easily.

Hand brake, clutch, and cranking the wheel, first all the way to the left and then back to center. Foot back on the gas before slamming the handbrake back off.

She'd dropped a gear, but the right angle curve had been navigated before her speedometer could drop back under 100. The car swerved just a hair as it headed back towards the intersection – god, it really had been three years since she'd last driven this, hadn't it? - but then she floored it again, letting up only long enough to shift when she had to.

She crossed the light at under two minutes. It was another 20 seconds before the Chevy caught up. When it rolled into the Parking Lot shortly after, the driver's girlfriend was already waiting for him, cursing loudly and kicking at his wheels and door as he tried to climb out. The whole time she kept threatening to leave him for the girl who'd beaten him, since she was obviously more of a man.

The woman approached the boy as he continued listening to his girlfriend berate him. "So where's Nara, punk? Ready to stop wasting my time yet?"

The kid sputtered, debating between running and just diving back in the car and locking the doors. Between his girlfriend and the older woman he was probably dead meat.

"Man, I don't know anything about any Nara. I just thought you'd be a good challenge!" he admitted, backing towards his vehicle again.

"YOU BETTER BE FUCKING WITH ME, YOU DICKLESS BASTARD," she growled at full volume, shoving him towards his destination. The crowd was suddenly silent (though someone might have screamed, "fight!") and pulled in tighter around the Chevy as the teen's back _thunked_ against the door. Her voice dropped dangerously low and she hissed into his face, "Because if you seriously just challenged me and had no idea what you were talking about, you'll find out that my little brother is even scarier than me."

As the boy writhed in fear, a feminine voice called from the crowd, "Temari?" The woman spun, but not before grabbing a fistful of the kid's shirt to make sure he didn't escape while she was distracted. She saw two people emerge from the crowd, using the man's large size to move people aside, the woman clutching his arm with one of hers.

"I thought so," the girl continued once she was in sight, playing nervously with her long blonde hair. "He figured you'd be back soon."

The man beside her finished her thought for her. "We'll take you to him."

"...He still hangs around with you two, then?" She snorted, turning back towards the kid and pulling him onto his toes to meet her eyes. "Listen, punk. Stick to your own league from now on, or I'll make sure your baby gets totaled next time."

She was in her car and trailing behind the couple's large truck by the time he thought to stand back up, dusting himself off and plopping weakly back into his Chevy. Over the drone of his girlfriend's berating from the passenger side, he grumbled to himself, "I feel real sorry for whatever guy she's looking for."


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for your reviews, guys! I'm feeling particularly inspired, so you get another chapter quick this time!

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**Burning Leaves - 4**

Nara Shikamaru woke up to a steady, buzzing vibration that shook his whole chest. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes with a wide yawn. The buzzing stopped for about a second, then resumed just as annoyingly as before. The problem wasn't that the sound was all that loud, it was that vibrations placed directly over one's lungs were rather difficult to ignore – and that was exactly why he made a habit of sleeping with his PDA on his chest.

One hand picked up the Blackberry and held it above his face, where his heavy-lidded eyes lazily brought the screen into focus as he muttered to no one, "It has to be after midnight... Who's calling?"

The pixels formed the word "Chouji", answering him silently. Had to be something at least vaguely important, then, so he turned on the speaker phone. "Yeah?"

"Hey, sorry to call you at this hour." Right on cue, Shikamaru yawned dramatically, to show that Chouji wasn't entirely forgiven. "We ran into an... old friend of yours, and thought you'd like to know."

Why both a smile and a sense of dread passed through him at the same time was something only he'd ever know, but the tone that he followed with made his feelings clear to Chouji. "Really, how troublesome. Where do you want me to meet her?"

Chouji gave the name and address of the hotel she was staying at, along with instructions to meet them in the parking garage.

"Basement level 3, Northeast corner?" Shikamaru guessed.

There was a pause as Chouji verified the location, his voice muffled by a hand over the phone, then spoke clearly again. "She only laughed."

"She would," he sighed. "I can be there in thirty. Go get yourselves some coffee." He hung up, heaving a sigh and rubbing his eyes again. "That woman... She'd better be glad tomorrow isn't Monday."

He knew it was Temari because she was about the only "old friend" he had aside from Chouji and Ino, and was certainly the only one of the bunch who'd demand to have her presence known at 1:30 in the morning. He pitied whoever lived in his old apartment, because they'd probably received a rude awakening close to midnight.

He sat up, leaning against the back of the futon he used as a bed. Normally he left it folded flat, but he'd needed the extra seating for a casual meeting a few days earlier and hadn't felt the need to convert it back yet. After all, the seat left more than enough room for him to lay down. His shoes were ready at his feet, right where he'd left them, and he slipped them on. His blanket fell to the floor as he stood, and he made a face at it, kicking it under the bed and out of his way. Crossing the room to look in the mirror, he scratched at the stubble on his chin – not enough to be worth shaving for her – then slipped into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

His apartment overall was quite tiny, but it had everything he needed and that was good enough for him. On one side was his kitchen, with a small island serving as a breakfast bar, at which sat two stools. On the adjacent wall, beneath the large picture window, was his futon, better known as his bed, and across from it, between the doors to the bathroom and the closet, was his couch, better known as his bed when he had company. A coffee table separated the two right now, but spent most of its time in the vacant corner. The large plasma TV on the wall across from the kitchen was mostly for show – full-service satellite came free with his rent, but he seldom watched anything aside from the news.

He pulled his hair up into a ponytail, ignoring the loose wisps that fell at the nape of his neck. He yanked at the bottom of his well-wrinkled shirt then buttoned it most the way up, discarding the tie that was loose around his neck. He wore more or less the same thing every day, and wasn't one to bother changing before he went to sleep.

He'd have to win the lottery two weeks in a row before he bothered to change clothes on account of her. And he'd never bought a ticket in his life.

Jacket on and keys in hand, he left the building, regretting answering the phone before he'd even made it to the parking lot. This evening wasn't going to be worth the loss of sleep.

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Naruto made a point of not going to bed on Saturdays until he knew his next door neighbor was home. It wasn't that he was paranoid, or thought he was going to be robbed, or anything like that; it was that the kid had a knack for getting himself in trouble, and Naruto generally was kept up past midnight by one thing or another anyway.

He heard the familiar rumble of the large engine and peeked out of the balcony. The red Chevy pulled into the driveway, its headlights off so the owner didn't alert his parents to his late arrival. Naruto rolled his eyes and headed for the door, pulling the blankets up around Hinata's bare shoulders carefully before he left the room.

"Oi, Konohamaru!" he called quietly across the lawn as the boy exited his car. He looked back at Naruto, flashing a less than enthusiastic grin.

"I had a race tonight, bro!" he announced, leaning against the door of his car.

"I'm guessing you lost?" Konohamaru had a habit of not coming home at all on the nights he won.

"Yeah... but it was to some hot bitch with an even hotter Porsche!"

Naruto sighed but was unable to stop himself from smiling. "In other words, you didn't stand a chance?" he teased, throwing an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders and lightly punching the side of his head.

"Hey, man! Don't rub it in," he whined, trying to wiggle free of the man's grip. "She was all fired up trying to find some guy, and I thought that'd make her sloppy, man! Not my fault!"

Naruto chuckled, mussing his friend's hair before releasing him. "Yes it is. Your own fault for underestimating the power of a woman scorned!" He grinned, about to add some to his words of wisdom when he noticed for the first time the sizable bruise on Konohamaru's jaw. "Hey, what happened there? That chick do that to you too?" He was trying not to laugh, knowing that the injury had to hurt.

"Naw, man... That was Akiko's doing. She figured losing the race and her didn't hurt enough, had to make her point."

That made him wince. Akiko was – or now, had been – Konohamaru's girlfriend for a good six months, and had followed him even before that, since the day he got his license. The girl had a temper, though, and a reputation for being fickle. "Eh, you're too good for her anyway," he offered, attempting to cheer the boy up.

"Yeah, man, I am. I'll find a new girl. I'm gonna get a _legal_ chick this time, man!"

Naruto chuckled and patted the kid on his head, shoving him towards his own house. "I'll round up the boys and we'll hit the town next Friday, what do you say?"

He lit right back up, grinning widely. "Hell yeah, man! I'll be there!"

-------

The sound of the back door opening this late at night really didn't surprise Tenten, even after a glance at the clock revealed it to be nearly 2AM. She left that door unlocked as long as she was in the shop, even after the shop was closed and the front doors bolted. Her eyes rose from the engine she was working on to the monitors on the wall, locating camera number six of the eight her garage had.

The blue uniformed man sent her into a flustered panic. Immediately she began throwing papers into drawers and locking them, then tossed some coats over a box in the closet before locking it as well. Taking a few deep breaths and straightening her stained shirt, she popped the door to her office and peeking out, offering, "Hello?"

"Hey," a familiar voice called back, sending a shiver up her spine. Still rigid, she headed into the expanse of the garage, not ready to believe it until she saw his face herself.

"...Kankurou?" she breathed, staring at the officer before her.

He tipped his hat and snickered. "Surprised to see me? The place looks real nice." He paused, looking her up and down, and she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow under his gaze. "You're looking pretty nice yourself, actually."

"Well look who's talking."

There was silence for a moment as he looked around, chortling to himself about this and that. She sighed, prompting him to look back over at her.

"So you're all back in town?"

"Sure am. I've been here for a couple weeks, but was steering clear so nobody knew." He smirked, then frowned as he added, "Wait, 'all'?"

"Your sister came through here two hours ago on a war path. It's taken me most this time just to clean back up."

"Ohhhh... Sounds like her." Quiet reigned in the garage again, and she did nothing but stare at him the whole time, watching as he pulled his cap off for a moment to scratch his head and then replaced it. "...What?" he finally asked when he realized she was staring at him.

She sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of her nose, smearing a line of grease down one side. "You're gone for three years... Haven't even visited in over a year... And you waltz back in here and just look at the cars?"

"Well," he said, his voice dropping to a low rumble as he stepped closer, "I was just making sure there was nothing _illegal_ around here. Wouldn't want to be associated with anything..." another step, and another, so that he was peering down into her eyes from mere inches away, "_shady_."

"Oh, no, officer," she cooed, backing towards her office, letting him maintain their distance the whole time. "You won't find anything here that you don't like." Her hand fell on the doorknob as he leaned down closer, his breath hot on her face.

The other hand rose to his chest, stroking down his sternum once, before her expression suddenly hardened. "...You fucking pig. You were gone for too long – you'll have to earn your way back in." She shoved him back while he was still off guard and slammed the door hard in his face, bolting it.

"Hey, sweetheart, I was just kidding!" he shouted through the metal, pounding on it a few times. "I just came to talk!"

Slumping to the floor, she screeched, "Like hell you did! Now get out before I call the cops... The rest of them!"

There was a sigh and some muttered cursing for a moment, and she leaned her head back on the door to listen to him better. "Hey, um, dinner? Friday? C'mon Tenten! We can start back over. You know I—"

He was cut off when she opened the door back up, the chain still attached as she peered out through the gap. "We'll see. I've got a lot of work to do tonight, though. Come back in a day or two, and we'll talk." She shut the door again, leaning her cheek against it quietly. "Three years is a long time to never come back for anything more than a quick fuck."

--------

The underground parking garage went down seven floors, and the third floor was usually the most packed – the first two were populated by handicapped and other "special" spots, so all the normal people went to the third or lower. Just the same, the corner furthest from the elevators tended to have a few spare spots, as well as security camera that was often conveniently out of order.

Shikamaru spotted Chouji's large truck before he saw the violet Porsche two spots away from it. A combination of habit and poor judgment led him to park his moped next to the latter. He stood up after stopping the motor, facing the familiar cars and looking for those he was meeting.

Temari was on him before he could say hello to anyone, his back shoved up against the van he'd parked alongside and her lips wet and demanding against his. He stood there, uninterested and unamused, as her leather-clad body pushed against his, her fingers fisting into his dress shirt. There was a growl as her tongue forced its way into his mouth, pillaging it for all it had to offer.

Still, he didn't react. Her growls became fiercer, her lips and teeth playing with his mouth freely until his lips bruised. One hand rubbed along his crotch, unfastening his fly and working its way in. She was trying to override his emotional detachment with instinctual, unavoidable physical reactions. He didn't move, didn't fight it, but didn't encourage her either, his hands flat against the car and eyes staring past her, at her car or, occasionally, his friends.

It took over five minutes of coaxing, but finally she obtained her desired result from him, drawing her hand away from his now undeniably hard member, and placing it opposite the other, one on each shoulder. Her lips drew from his, tongue lapping off the trail of saliva that joined them for a moment.

He tensed, trying not to pant or sigh. He welcomed the return of normal breathing for the instant he knew he'd have it.

Her knee connected solidly with his groin, and the only thing that rivaled the contortion in Shikamaru's own face was that in Chouji's as he realized what had just happened to his friend. Temari backed away, leaving the man she'd been seeking to crumple to the floor, then stepped over his moped and climbed into her car, driving off.

She hadn't said a single word the entire time.

Ino awoke from her stunned daze and chased after the Porsche her for a moment, screaming "You crazy bitch! What's your fucking problem?" However, a woman running in heels cannot catch up with cars made for racing. Frustrated, she threw her heel after the car before returning next to Chouji, who checked on the injured Nara, who looked shockingly calm for a man in his condition.

"What the hell?!" Ino was panicking still. "Why'd she do that? Oh my god, I'm so sorry Shikamaru! I wouldn't have let her find you if I'd known that was going to happen!" She continued on for a good two minutes, her words drowning out Shikamaru's low moans until Chouji handed her the keys to go start the truck.

"...So what was that?" he coaxed, helping his friend to his feet. He had to support most Shikamaru's weight for him to walk, but it seemed like all the victims of the attack would be fine with some ice and time.

"I probably deserved that," was all he would answer. "Take me home."


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you again, everyone, for all your wonderful reviews. I'm always excited to hear back from my readers, especially with your suggestions. I've received some detailed reviews recently, and they've made me very happy. I'm also fortunate to have Noble Spirit 11 as a fantastic beta; thanks again to him.

My dear friend Dom has been kind enough to sketch out most the characters for me, and is working on the rest. Anyone who'd like to see can find him as NikkoAngelus on DeviantArt. Please leave him comments if you look – he's looking to improve, and there's only so much I can give in the way of suggestions.

As always, the characters aren't mine, I'm just using them in this story – the words within being the only thing I'm claiming as my own.

**Burning Leaves - 5**

It was less than an hour after dawn when the phone rang across town. Sasuke grunted as he set down his weights, shaking his arm out and answering.

"Uchiha."

"Hello, Sasuke. How were the roads last night?"

For a moment, he stared at the phone, trying to identify the deep voice on the other end. Given the familiar drone in the background, the voice was obviously disguised by a machine. He'd heard it often when his father called as a prank, or while sitting around the station when he was younger. However, this voice didn't belong to his father. "...Who is this?"

"That's not important right now. What is essential though, is this folder in front of me. A little something I found on a visit to your father's precinct last week."

He didn't need prompting to know what that meant, but he opted to play dumb anyway. "What, did I lose something at school?"

The voice seemed halfway amused as it answered. "You know what I'm talking about, Sasuke. There isn't an officer in the state who wouldn't love to catch you."

"I'm sure they've got bigger worries than some college kid who speeds now and then."

"Oh, they do. But our other problems are a little better at covering their trails than you are." Sasuke made a noise to indicate he wasn't convinced. "Daddy can't save you forever. You're an independent, now, and you've got a record going back eight years."

Point. Sheriff or not, even his father was bound to run out of excuses eventually. "...I'm listening."

"There's some dirty dealings going on in your little underground world, and it's costing us a lot of money... And more importantly, it's starting to cost people their lives."

Sasuke was quick to butt in, not ready to take the accusation lightly. "Hey, I don't know where you're going with this, because I don't know anything."

"I didn't think you would. But that's not to say your friends won't." There was a pregnant pause, and the voice chuckled before continuing. "You don't have to do much. Just keep me informed on where all your little races are. Someone's bound to know where we can find our culprits."

"And if I do?"

"I'll see to it this folder is buried far better than it was when I found it."

"And if I don't?"

"Covering up your trespasses for all these years... Your poor father. If word got out of this around my county... he might find himself in a bit of a predicament."

Sasuke growled away from the phone for a moment. He'd been beaten far too easily. "So this is some sort of laundering scheme, right? Because I swear to god, if you're just trying to bust up a few races-"

"Oh no, Sasuke. That's not it at all. This is more than just a laundering scheme. People have died in this."

"So the Yakuza, then?" He smirked as he suddenly realized he could still play one card against this guy. "You've got to give me a good reason not to call the whole thing off, trace the call, and report you for blackmail."

"Easy." Silence again, so deliberate that Sasuke nearly thought the man was gone, "Your brother was one of the victims."

No.

Sasuke lowered his head in disgust. As his fist tightened, nails digging into his flesh, he responded in a strained tone, "...Fine. Tuesday evening, Route 19."

--------

Morning and sunlight. Okay, well, noon and sunlight, but bright, hot light right in Shikamaru's eyes anyway. "Oh god, why..." he grumbled, covering his eyes and rolling onto his side, away from the window.

His bladder protested the shift in weight. One hand rubbed over his face and through his hair, smoothing it from his face as he struggled to sit up. It hurt to move anything above his ankles and below his shoulders, and the very thought of using the bathroom made him cringe, but he also didn't feel like washing his friend's sheets. He got up with a lot of wincing and made his way to the door, stepping around the blankets Chouji had left on the floor.

Shikamaru closed the bathroom door behind him, sighing heavily as he looked at his own tired face in the mirror. "That bitch," he grumbled, turning and unzipping his fly.

He wasn't quite surprised when the piece of paper fell out of his pants. She'd done that before, back when he first met her.

When he plopped down on the couch next to Chouji and Ino ten minutes later, they were surprised to see him looking freshly groomed and checking something on his Blackberry.

"Whatcha up to?" Chouji asked, offering him the bag of potato chips he was munching on.

"Well," he smirked a little, handing over the scrap of paper with a phone number scrawled across it, "It would seem I'm in the market for a car."

--------

Naruto was at the auto shop there that Sunday afternoon, not at all to Tenten's surprise, but she felt like some friendly conversation, talking to him between fixing cars. "What're you looking for? Thought you'd used all your cash on that ring?"

He turned and grinned, scratching his neck sheepishly. "Well, I did, but grandpa saw fit to give me a bonus after he met my fiancée."

"Buttered the old man up, then?"

"I think Hinata did that for me, just by giggling." He smiled proudly, imagining her smile. "My grandfather was so impressed with a 'charming, beautiful young lady', that he felt inspired to donate to the wedding."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Doesn't surprise me. After almost three years, everyone _still_ thinks you two are cute together." She leaned against a nearby wall, asking, "So you're looking for something more for her, then?"

"No, not here. I'm taking her out to dinner tonight." He motioned towards the selection of items along the wall, "I'm getting something for my neighbor. Poor kid got his ass handed to him last night by some out-of-towner, and his girlfriend left him over it."

"Ouch." She winced, nodding. "Sounds like he could use a pick me up. Maybe some new rims?"

"I was thinking some spinners. His old Chevy would look great with them."

"Why not just bring him in? He's old enough now, and I can just be careful with what I show him."

Naruto seemed surprised, looking back at her. "Since when were you careful about that sort of thing? You're more the type to just hope the customer won't realize you've got 'special' imports around here."

"Oh, nothing. Just heard some rumors about a crackdown." She moved away from the wall, and sat at desk, crossing one car off a list. "That, and your friend's reputation as a loudmouth proceeds him."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I get it. So what about you?" He glanced around the shop, noticing that several things seemed out of place. "What else is going on around here?"

"So you noticed the mess? This... crazy broad came through here last night." She stopped herself, being careful with her words. Couldn't let him know she knew who the girl was. "I think she was drunk or something. For all I know, the way the girl was walking and acting, she may have been high on something like coke or meth. She came in here when I was closing the shop, grabbed my shirt and demanded that I give her all the money in the safe." She threw a combination of punches in the air. "I got roughed up a bit, but I managed to kick her out of here. Nearly had to call the cops to get her out."

"Geez!" He said, eyes wide in surprise. "I know you worked in the shop since we were kids, but leave the addicts to the cops."

Tenten nodded. She smiled, flashing a V sign. "Couldn't help it. Can't let some crazy bitch ruin my business."

"You want me to help you finish cleaning? Hinata won't be here for another half hour."

"You talk like you have a choice." She grinned, motioned her hand toward the back of the shop. "I already got most of it cleared up. Why don't you pick up the displays over there while I work on the next car?" He nodded, turning to go do as she asked. If he was lucky, he'd get a discount out of it.

The mess he worked on consisted of two displays of different brands of oil. It took him only a couple minutes to right the displays and reorganize the bottles. Pushing them back in position, he noticed a blue cap sitting on the shelves nearby.

Naruto picked up the cap and examined it. There was no mistaking it; this was a police cap. He said quietly under his breath, "Looks like the cops came here to investigate what happened."

In his distraction, he missed the footsteps coming up behind him.

When he turned around in search of Tenten, he found a pair of bright green eyes shining at him from less than a foot away, not the brown eyes he expected.

"Awww, you caught me," the girl sighed in defeat. She flashed him an enthusiastic smile. "Surprise anyway!"

"S-Sakura? Is that you? What're you doing here? I thought you didn't graduate until-"

"June? I know. But I got all my credits done early, so I thought I'd spend a semester back here in Konoha before I started my residency." She grinned a bit, leaning to one side and looking him over as she smoothed her short pink hair. "You went and grew on me again, didn't you?" She scolded playfully as he remained shocked at the sight of his childhood friend standing in front of him. "A girl can't leave town for med school without expecting a few things to change, I guess."

He laughed nervously, the cap he'd been holding forgotten on the floor. "Nope, things are bound to change. I'm glad to see you're back though." Casting his eyes away from her body, he asked, "Decided where you're going to do your residency yet?"

"Well," her smile grew more coy as her voice changed into a soft seductive tone. "I thought maybe I could finish right here in Konoha." Her fingers brushed his cheeks, her palms cupping them. She leaned in closer. She stood on her toes, making their noses only within two inches of each other. Her emerald eyes locked with his cerulean eyes, before she whispered, "With _you_."

Within the next breath, her lips softly touched his. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest as the kiss grew more passionate. She wrapped her arms around her neck as they let the passion of the moment take them. In that instant, years of separation vanished between the two.

She giggled a little, pulling away and setting back down on her heels. "I missed you," she cooed, smiling widely.

"I missed you too," he admitted, reaching for her hair, running his fingers through it slowly.

--------

Outside, Hinata, wearing a dress and a gift, parked her car a few feet away from the garage. She left the apartment earlier, preparing for the evening out. However, she came early, hoping to find Tenten, and surprise him with a gift for his car, for their three-year anniversary was only five days away.

She glanced inside the shop peeking around the edge of the open garage door, only to find the lips of her man touching the lips of another woman.

She clutched her chest with one hand, and muffled her own gasp with the other. Spinning around, she closed her eyes against the impending tears. Staggering away from the door, searching for a place to sit, she whispered "Naruto," the only word that escaped her trembling lips. Now, she knew why he'd asked her to show up so close to their reservation time.

She knew who the other woman was; the unique pink hair and red ribbon was recognizable anywhere. He dated Sakura all through college, while Hinata watched and admired him from afar. They had broken up before she left town for med school...

But she'd come back. And they were in there together.

Hinata clapped her hand over her mouth again, trying to stifle the sobs welling in her throat, while her other hand wiped away the tears streaming down her face. Leaning against the wall and taking a minute to catch her breath, she tried to think.

It didn't work.

Without another look back to the garage, she staggered back into her car and drove away, heading to... well, she wasn't sure where to go. She needed a place to think. Somewhere far from here. Far from Sakura and Naruto.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: …Yeah, I'm alive. No, I don't really have a good excuse for my lack of chapters. -shrugs- Here's another one for you.

Edit: In preparation for finally continuing this... well... There's been some edits made. A slight change of cast, so to speak.

As always… Characters aren't mine, story is.

**Burning Leaves - 6**

Karin slipped in the back door of The Monarch, looking for an empty hook to hang her coat on. She was only a couple minutes shy of being late for work, but that's how she _always_ was. She'd just go wash her hands, get her apron, and be out in the restaurant before anyone noticed-

"Shit," she grumbled under her breath when Ino appeared from the kitchen, darting toward the older girl quickly. Karin hated Ino, partially because she had a knack for catching her breaking the rules, and partially because she was ugly, but mostly because she was two years younger and still was the head waitress, a position she had only earned by fucking the manager's son.

"Karin, there you are," the blonde squeaked, pulling her aside urgently.

"I'm not late," she grumbled, "_yet_, at least."

"No, that's not it," Ino countered, but the waitress was talking again before she could explain.

"What the hell am I in trouble for, then?"

"You're not in trouble for anything," Ino sighed in exasperation. "Look, we've got a special guest tonight, and we need you-"

"To stay out of the way and keep my mouth shut," she recited mockingly, pushing up her glasses as an excuse to look away from her.

The younger woman looked ready to pull her hair out. "No," she hissed, "To go up and watch the front door. If anyone comes in, you just tell them we're booked solid for the night and offer to make a special reservation for them for next week."

She was silent for a moment, staring blankly as she understood. "You mean... he's here again?" The volume with when she was shushed confirmed her suspicion. "Alright... I'll go." She turned and finished preparing her uniform, taking a little extra time to put her hair into a bun and pin it into place carefully, though a few bits still escaped her.

The Monarch was easily the fanciest steakhouse in Konoha, and was frequented by most the city's big wigs. Amongst those were the mayor and other officials... And the less public but far more feared Yakuza leader.

He was a man known simply as the Kazekage. Somewhere in his fifties but still going strong, he commanded more respect from the citizens who knew of him than any officer of the law could hope to. He was impressive, and even though she was to stay mostly out of sight, Karin couldn't help but look over toward his corner as she walked past, peeking between the crowd. It had been nearly three years since he'd last come into their restaurant, and back then she'd been pushed straight back out the door and heard of his presence only through rumors.

But the red-haired man everyone was gathered around couldn't be any older than her. Karin stopped in her tracks, gawking at the man for a few second before his eye caught hers for an instant.

She hurried off to her post, knowing that her chances of getting a bonus this month were now gone.

--

The Kazekage was dead, and had been for over two years. His family had vanished from town well before then, leaving some of the higher ups in charge, which had severely weakened the mob.

His son was back in town to change that.

Ino knew who he was on sight... She'd seen him for years, several different times, as she waited on his father. She had no idea what his name was, but now he was referred to simply as Sabaku. He'd always been the best behaved of the three children, which explained why the boy with a tattoo on his forehead had become the rather distinctive leader of the local Yakuza.

As concerning as his presence was, Ino's nerves were even more frazzled by the woman sitting next to him. It was because of her, and not Sabaku himself, that she had tried to place the waitressing duty onto someone else.

That had failed, and now she was going out of her way to avoid eye contact with Temari. The boss himself? No objections. But his sister had caused one of her friends a great deal of pain the night before, and Ino wasn't about to forgive her for any reason.

"May I get you a drink, sir?" she offered Sabaku, eyes focused on the wall directly to the left of his head, avoiding eye contact with him and avoiding looking toward the blonde on his right. He ordered, and she followed in succession, taking orders from each of the others at the table, based on how important they seemed, ending with Temari well after she'd gotten the orders of the various bodyguards and peons.

She had to be polite, that was a given, but she didn't have to give her any kind of respect. She'd lower that bitch as far as she could.

And yet she couldn't stop looking in her direction, couldn't stop checking to see if the older woman was sorry yet, or if she was at least pissing her off yet. But nothing seemed to even faze her, no matter how hard she tried. Every time Ino looked over, she was being ignored, and not even blatantly – she was simply just talking to someone else the whole time, or acting as though her food was the most interesting thing on the planet.

Temari struck back for the first time by making Ino repeat the specials no less than three times, proclaiming that she couldn't understand her. "It sounds like your tongues swollen or something, honey. You should really get that checked," she suggested, sticking out her tongue and wiggling it in a way that was obviously meant to indicate Ino's tongue ring.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and moving the clear stud a couple times before repeating – as clearly, slowly, and calmly as she could manage – the menu once more. She had to wonder when Temari'd had the time to notice her tongue ring though; she was required to wear invisible ones at work, and she wasn't sure they'd made eye contact long enough the night before (even before the declaration of war had come) for her to notice such a thing.

But this was Temari. She'd always been the one to use everything she had against those around her.

Part way through the meal, her phone rang and she answered it, spending a few minutes ignoring her food while she talked quietly (but laughed loudly) to the person on the other end of the line. Both times Ino passed the table during the call, she was met with amused smiles that showed almost all of Temari's teeth.

And what killed her was that she just wanted to know who she was talking to and what they'd been saying.

From that point on, her expressions toward Ino had shifted to the point that she was actually laughing each time she walked away from the table over an hour later.

If they were going to become regulars again, either Sabaku would have to get a new representative, or The Monarch was going to make the front page for having their head waitress incarcerated.

Akamaru's head rose from his paws quickly at the sound of a car door shutting in the driveway outside. Barking once, he hopped off the couch, nearly bowling Kiba over from his spot on the floor on his way to the door. Kiba scolded him halfheartedly, pausing his game, standing up, and following him with a chuckle. "What's up buddy, we got company?" He picked up a shirt and tossed it over his shoulder, just in case he needed to look decent, and popped his head out into the front hall, where Hana had already opened the door.

Hinata was standing there, her pale eyes unusually wide and bloodshot, her makeup smeared and hair twisted in her hands as talked to his older sister. He blinked, taking a moment to put together all the pieces into a single answer: she'd been crying.

Her eyes widened further when she spotted him, hurrying away from the door and throwing herself into his chest. For a moment he stood there dumbly, looking between the indigo head below him and Hana as she shut the door. "No idea," she mouthed, shrugging, and he sighed, wrapping his arms around her.

"Hey there little girl, what's wrong?" he whispered, trying to sound soothing.

"Don't want to talk about it," she muttered, barely turning her head far enough to be heard. She was sobbing again, her tears carving fresh tracks down her cheeks. He'd seen her like this twice before, the first when her mother died over a decade earlier, and the second at Neji's death – so he knew this was something major, and knew she'd tell him when she was ready.

"You need to sleep?" he offered, backing up his head to try and see her face. She just nodded, grip loosening a little. "Naruto know you're here?"

She was just silent, almost paralyzed by the mere question.

Kiba could swear he felt his temperature raise a dozen degrees in the next half second, rage washing over him instantaneously. "What did he do, Hinata?"

She was still silent.

"Tell me what he did. He had to have done something, and you're gonna tell me what it is." He was growling now, and he knew he was too angry from how she seemed to grow smaller in his arms and how Akamaru whined behind him, but he didn't care. Hinata was like a little sister to him, had been an extension of his family longer than Akamaru, and friend or not, if he had hurt her... "Tell me."

"He didn't do anything, Kiba. Don't worry."

"Don't give me that shit. You're crying. He did _something_ fucked up."

"Kiba! It's fine! Don't worry!" He couldn't tell if she was screaming in fear, anger, or just crying louder. "He didn't do anything. I just need a place to stay for a night or two, that's all."

"You go sleep, then. I'll check on you later," he assured, letting her go and pushing her softly toward his room. He watched her head down the hall, glancing over her shoulder at him, where he offered a comforting smile. She sighed, twisting her hair tighter before heading into the messy room, letting Akamaru stride in beside her.

The moment she closed the door behind her, he turned back toward the front door, brushing past Hana roughly. "Take care of her," he commanded before pulling his shirt on, grabbing his keys from the rack near the door.

"You're heading after him, aren't you?" He sighed at the note of amusement in her voice, expecting a lecture to come any moment. As the older, more successful sibling, she always felt like it was her duty to boss him around – or maybe she was just trying to make up for their lack of a mom. Either way, it was a pain in the ass when she started in with the high and mighty on him.

"Sure am, and if you've got a problem with it, you can-"

"What car you plannin on using?"

He snarled, slamming his fist into the wall hard. She just had to remind him of that detail, didn't she? And what was worse was that she was grinning about it.

"Fine," he snorted, tossing his keys into the corner again. "But if he comes anywhere near her before I say he can, he's a dead man, I promise you."

Hana sighed, rolling her eyes as she watched her little brother head back toward his room. "Don't make promises I know you won't keep, Kiba..."


	7. Chapter 7

...Finally... it is done...

Yeah... writer's block sucks... as does moving, as does losing my job three times... but I'll just call it all research...

As always... characters aren't mine, and I'm not making any money off this sadly... but I do claim the storyline for this as my own, and if anyone but Kishimoto tries to steal it from me, I will hunt them down...

(This chapter is un-beta'd in my rush to post it, so if there's any errors, please let me know... :) )

Burning Leaves – Chapter 7

"Sakura…"

There was time for their eyes to meet before he pushed her away, sighing and shaking his head. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't be doing this…"

"We only broke up because I didn't know if I was coming back, Naruto… I'm back now." Sakura's forehead wrinkled as she reached up to touch his face, only to have him turn his head away.

"I know that, but it's been a long time. Things have changed… I'm engaged now."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, somewhere between surprised and excited for him. Then it sunk in, in the moment of silence that followed. "Oh," she said again, much quieter and more concerned now. "I see."

Her eyes fell to the floor, though she looked up to Naruto's hand, wondering if there was a band there, something she should have noticed to save herself this embarrassment. No, of course not – he'd never been the type to spend money on himself, only his girlfriend and his car; his babies. Still, she felt stupid over it, and hated how quiet it was, hated the way she could feel him trying to find something to say as he rubbed the back of his neck.

He hadn't changed a thing in those years… nothing at all, except for getting a fiancé. Of all the things.

"So who's the lucky girl?" she asked quietly, trying to break the heavy silence. "Anyone I know?"

He seemed to perk up at the thought of her, and instantly Sakura felt sick – not with jealousy, but with anger at herself for feeling jealous at all.

"Probably by name only… Hyuuga Hinata." He pulled the lanyard from his pocket, showing a small photo keychain hanging from it. The plastic was well-worn from time amongst the keys, but she could still make out the smiling, blushing face of an Asian woman, her head tucked close against Naruto's blond one.

"She's lovely," Sakura said, trying her best to mean it. "You're really lucky." That one, she meant. There was another pause as he put his keys back in his pocket, a grin plastered across his face, her own lips pressed flatly together.

He'd moved on, she hadn't. So much for Med School making her more mature.

"When do I get to meet her?" It was a half-hearted offer, but any conversation was welcome right now. She was back in town more or less for good now, and she didn't want to start off on the wrong foot.

"Well, actually..." He looked over at the door, making a face before checking the time on his cell phone. "She should have been here by now. We were supposed to go to dinner tonight..." He thought for a second, still pressing buttons on his cell phone, then holding it to his ear for a moment.

Sakura could hear the faint buzz of the rings from her spot six feet away, but before she could find something to distract herself from any potential conversation, he'd already hung up the phone again. "She's not answering," he shrugged.

"Maybe she just went on over to the restaurant?"

His face lit back up. "Yeah, that's probably it. We usually meet here first, but maybe she just went straight there. I wasn't very clear." She just nodded... how many times had he neglected to tell her where they were meeting? "I guess I should get changed and head over, then."

"Changed?" But she knew the answer as soon as she asked it: he was covered with oil and grime from his car, and his outfit was nothing fancy - with a car like that, he probably had the money to treat his girl to prime rib every night of the week. She hated guys who thought they had to spoil their girlfriends like that.

Oblivious to the slow criticism going through her mind, he went to get his clothes from the trunk.

"Yeah, we're going to The Monarch tonight."

...Well there was a name she hadn't heard in a while. "Really?"

Naruto's head jerked back up at the surprise in her voice. "Yeah, why? You've heard of it?"

Heard of it? She'd worked there for half a year before they dated, all those years ago now, and she had... well, a few friends there, to say the least. "Yeah... Actually, there's someone who works there I should probably drop in on sometime."

"If you want a ride, you can tag along."

She blinked. "I wouldn't be interrupting your date?"

"Hinata'd understand, and that way you can meet her. Besides, it's not like you'll be following us home or anything."

She didn't know if it was his laugh - as genuine and playful as ever - or his words that scared her, but she just shook her head. "I'll come along, but I'll drive myself. I need to get the hang of navigating town again."

-********-

Temari snapped her phone shut, still snickering to herself, then leaned back in the booth and picked up her wine to give it a swirl. "That idiot," she muttered, chuckling to herself and taking a sip. Idiot, indeed...

"What's so funny," came a soft squeak from her brother's other side. She leaned forward to look around him, blinking in realization.

_'Oh yeah. Matsuri.'_ The girl was so quiet that she tended to nearly forget she was there at all, even though she'd become a permanent fixture on Gaara's left arm. "Hmm, what do you mean?"

"Whatever you two were talking about, you kept on laughing. What happened?" She seemed to barely be bothering to lean forward far enough to actually see Temari, her face scrunched in concern. "Did you actually go kill that guy last night?"

Temari started to laugh harder. "No, no. He got what was coming to him, but I'm sure he'll be fine... in a day or two." She sighed in amusement, taking another sip of her wine before setting it back down. No, she probably wouldn't hear from or about him again for a while, unless their _lovely_ waitress decided to open her big mouth. There was better news to be had.

"What's going on, then? You keep looking at our waitress like she's a clown." Matsuri made a noise that definitely sounded disapproving, then finished, "It's kind of rude."

The blonde actually snorted as she tried to hold back her laughter at that one. Her, rude? Compared to Ino? "Oh, Matsuri... you're so cute. No, that waitress and I go waaaay back. She and I talked for a bit last night, actually."

"Oh." The younger girl hummed to herself for a moment, thinking, then started to ask more, when she found Gaara's face rather close to her ear suddenly.

"I think it's best you leave her alone for right now," he informed her in a low rumble, to which she could only gulp and nod. "If Temari wants something to be known... it will be known."

"Now now, be nice to her," his sister smiled, placing a hand on the Kazekage's shoulder. "She's still young, and so new... she doesn't know what happened before we left. She'll find out." A soft beep came from under the table, and Temari's pulled her phone back out, smiling at the message. "In the mean time, our brother seems to have forgotten how long we've been gone."

Oh, the stories TenTen had to tell...

-********-

Hinata could claim she wasn't upset all she wanted, but not even as dense as Kiba tended to be, he knew that a girl didn't wail for most of an hour without reason. Every attempt he'd made to wander into his room to check on her had been met by insistent "I'm fine, I'm fine!"s, so in the end he had just decided to leave her alone, though not without letting Akamaru into the room so there was someone there to comfort her. Now he sat sprawled in the armchair closest to the hallway, trying to pick out any noises that floated from the crack beneath his door. He knew she was talking quietly, and guessed it was about Naruto, but the only noises that were loud enough for him to understand were whimpers, and he couldn't tell whether those were from her or the dog anymore.

Inside the room, Hinata had exhausted herself from fretting and simply lay collapsed against Akamaru, her face buried between his shoulders. The big fluffball obviously didn't understand why she was crying, but he'd occasionally nose the shaking girl anyway, whining as if to ask, "are you okay yet?" And each time, she'd give him a slight smile and a pat on the head, and he'd wag his tail a couple times, and she'd be able to relax for a couple moments before the memory struck her again.

"I don't know why I'm letting it get to me, Akamaru..." she whispered, managing a smile again as he tilted his head at her. "Oh, you're so lucky. All you need is a warm place to sleep, a bowl of food now and again, and someone... anyone... to scratch you behind your ears..." She sighed and pressed her face to him again, her voice muffled by his fur as she continued. "I... don't even know if I have a home anymore... I can't go back there. Not while he's there anyway..." For a moment she was silent, and nearly dozed off, her eyelids heavy and swollen from the evening's crying. "But, I have to go back," she whispered to herself, eyes fixed on middair, "everything I have is there..."

She let out a little groan as the tears started to well up again, her hands holding tighter to her companion's thick fur. "Why did I think this would last, Akamaru? I have no idea how long this has been going on... hopefully not long, but... Oh, I know that girl, he was with her before me... Who knows if he ever even really left her..." She chewed on her lip and tried to take another deep breath, but only managed to inhale a round of tears and wound up coughing slightly. "I really thought it was true, though," she whispered, her eyes falling on her left hand... "But I must just... not have been enough for him... after all..."

A familiar melody suddenly filled the room, and her breathing stopped entirely as she nearly panicked at the sound. "Oh gods... he's calling me... Akamaru, what should I do?" she whispered harshly, sitting up so quickly she made herself a bit dizzy. For a moment she just stared in the direction of her coat, debating whether or not to answer. After a moment, though, the ringing stopped and she was left to just sit there, heart pounding in her throat.

When it began again, just as she was starting to cry once more, she couldn't do anything but sit there biting her lip, one arm still looped around Akamaru's neck. "I... shouldn't make him worry... but..." Hinata looked down at her friend, who merely looked back at her with a halfway guilty sort of canine expression. When the music stopped again, she started to move to stand up, but found a giant white head in her lap instead.

"You're right..." she whispered, scratching behind his ears softly, leaning back down to lay against him. "I'll call later to let him know I'm alright, at least, since I did miss our date... but... I couldn't talk to him yet..."

Akamaru made a soft noise of objection to the idea that his cuddle-buddy planned on leaving any time soon, but by then, she was already sleeping to the soft sound of his heartbeat.

-********-

"She's not answering," Naruto sighed, closing his phone. "I'm a little worried... The restaurant was closed and I don't see her car anywhere... I hope she's alright."

Sakura nodded, glancing around to help search, even though she honestly had no idea what the girl's car looked like. "I'm sure she's fine and something just came up, that's all," she tried to assure him. The poor boy was clearly distraught, but she had no idea how to help him at all – he just seemed beyond words. On the inside, however, she was wondering what kind of a fiance didn't show up for her anniversary dinner – hadn't Naruto said he'd booked this a few weeks in advance?

"Yeah, you're probably right," he sighed, then grinned suddenly. "Or maybe when she found out the restaurant was closed, she ran home to cook something nice, and she's waiting for me at home with it! But she got so excited that she left her phone in the car, and-"

"Then you better go check for her," Sakura answered a bit roughly, interrupting him before his fantasy went anywhere graphic. She sighed and shook her head, her back turned towards him as she tried to force herself to calm down before saying anything more to him. _'This is what you deemed better than me?!'_ her mind demanded her to ask, her hand clenching and unclenching, _'A defenseless little rich brat who can't even be bothered to answer your calls? She must __**really**__ be something, I'm sure.'_ She snorted out loud in annoyance, drawing Naruto's attention suddenly.

"You okay, Sakura?" he asked, leaning over towards her and looking over her shoulder, his face a little too close for her comfort.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine," she insisted, crossing her arms. "I'm just a little mad I didn't get to meet her tonight, I guess. You've told me so much about her, then she wasn't here, and I don't even get to check up on Ino. Tonight feels like a total wash."

"Ah, c'mon Sakura, it's not so bad," he chuckled, leaning back against his car. "If you want some excitement to make up for it all, meet me back here later and you can come along on a race, just like old times!"

_'Yeah... old times. Right.'_ She rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh out of spite, turning to give him a smile. "Yeah, maybe, but not tonight. I've got an overnight at the hospital, so it'll have to wait. I'll give you a call, though," she promised, backing away slowly. "You hurry home before your dinner gets cold!" she added, trying to distract him into letting her complete her escape.

"Oh, you're right!" he half-shouted, a grin spreading across his face. "Oh, this'll be so great! Yes, call me when you have a night off, we'll hang out!" he called after her, waving, then turned around to unlock his car. "Hinata's home cooked dinners... Yum, I can hardly wait!"


	8. Chapter 8

Would have had this up last night, but was being slightly lame. *sighs*

Anyway, here you are. Another chapter, at what for me can only be called record speed. Bon appetite.

**Burning Leaves - 8**

It was the sort of thing she hated doing, but today, it needed to be done. As the Kazekage and his group had ordered desert, Karin had realized she was definitely getting off work early today, one way or another, so she'd ducked off to gather a ride home via txt message... The result she'd found an hour later was not a happy one.

"Hey there, baby, I heard you were looking for a ride."

She snorted and stared at the pale-haired boy who was waiting at the curb. "He sent you to pick me up? _Seriously_?"

"Ah, c'mon now, not happy to see me?" Suigetsu chided, opening the door for her before hopping over the hood of his car and climbing in his side.

"Never." She crossed her arms and stared at him for a moment as he shrugged and climbed in, starting the engine.

"You can feel that way all you want, doesn't change that I'm the one driving you home today, Karin. Now get in, I'm hungry and I'm sure Juugo is too." The larger man shrugged from his spot in the back seat, then smiled when Karin waved at him.

"He's probably not hungry, considering he buys his own groceries instead of freeloading off of other people's," she retorted, finally sitting down and closing the door behind her. She made a point of sitting as close to the exit as possible, avoiding her seat belt and rolling the window down in case she needed to make a quick escape. "Let's just go," she huffed.

"You mind telling me why you're out early?" He was going to be smug about this too, she could tell already.

She turned to glare at him, elbow still on the window. "Only if _you_ want to be the one to pass the information along." Karin sighed in irritation again, resting her chin on her arm and squinting at herself in the car's mirror. "And no, I didn't get fired, if that's what you're trying to imply, jackass."

"That good, huh?"

She groaned through her teeth, rubbing the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses. "Just wait till tomorrow, then you'll be running your mouth."

"And what's so special about tomorrow, bitch?" he snorted, making a hard turn and forcing her out of her corner for an instant. "You got some plan we should be aware of?"

She snorted and punched him in the arm before settling back, "I made the call already. You'll just have to wait and see. Right now, just get me home, I need to see Sasuke."

"As you wish, _princess_," Suigetsu seethed, jerking the car to a stop at a red light. "We'll get you back home _real_ quick."

His foot slammed the pedal and the engine roared back to life, sending them flying through the intersection and on down the boulevard long before the light turned green.

-********-

"Anyone home?"

Shikamaru eased his way into the seemingly deserted shop, glancing around. "Damn, it's dark in here," he muttered, squinting to see in the flickering fluorescence of the one light that was lit on the other side of the shop. "Tenten? You here? The door was unlocked!" he called, wandering between the cars towards the office. He sighed, noticing the light was on inside the office. "Good, she's in there... damn, she's got to get better about security though, I could have gotten out of here with a car by now," he grumbled, pulling one hand out of his pocket to open the door.

In the next moment he let out a less than dignified shriek and jumped back a couple feet, holding one hand up in front of his face to block the wrench that came flying at him. "What the hell?! Are you mad, woman?" he demanded, holding his other hand over his face for protection as he bent to pick the wrench up.

"Shikamaru!" Tenten squeaked, dropping the screwdriver from her other hand. "I thought you were someone else! I'm sorry, are you alright?"

He grunted, looking at the rapidly forming welt on his arm where he had deflected the makeshift weapon, then nodded, "Yeah, looks like it. What the hell's got you so jumpy, though?"

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "Don't even ask."

"Have you had thieves lately? Do you need me to hire you some security?"

For a moment she just stared, then shook her head and laughed. "No, no... nothing like that." She smirked and shook her head in amusement, then stepped back, waving her hand to usher him into the office. "That's just like you, though. I haven't seen you except in two years, save for a stray oil change, and you're already offering to throw money at me. Still don't have anything better to spend it on?"

He shrugged. "I've made donations to half the children's charities in town and I still seem to have twice as much in my bank account today as yesterday."

"And the other half?'

"Couldn't accept any more without losing their non-profit status." He found a spot on the desk to lean against, putting his hands back in his pockets. "Or else they just weren't any good."

"Why don't you spend some on yourself for a change, then? When was the last time you had a vacation?"

"Boring," he assured her, looking around the office. "Actually, though, I'm planning on blowing a couple hundred K this week."

"Buying a new startup?" she chuckled, taking the wrench from where he'd set it to put it away. "Where this time? China? Italy? The Netherlands?"

"Actually..." he raised an eyebrow, giving her a wry smile as he pulled a pack of thousands from his pocket and waved it at her, "I need a car."

-********-

Eventually Hinata had fallen asleep, and Akamaru carefully slipped out from her grip and nosed his way out of the room, going to set his head on his master's lap.

"Hey there, buddy," Kiba sighed at the huge dog, scratching his forehead softly. "Hinata's asleep then, I guess?" he asked, getting only a whimper in response from the barely understanding dog. "Gods... what a fucking dick," he grumbled, sighing a couple more times and staring at the ceiling. The more he thought about it – the way she'd come in sobbing her eyes out, the sounds of her wails for the hour it took her to finally sleep – the more irritated he got, his teeth grinding together and his fingers slowly digging into the can in his left hand.

"ARGH!" He finally popped, leaping to his feet and launching his mostly-crushed beer can across the room, sending Akamaru skittering away from him. "Goddamn it, what the hell did that prick do?!" He stood there seething for a moment, his teeth bared in a snarl as he stared at the wall and imagined his friend's face there.

A wet nose touched his hand and he looked down at his best friend, letting his growl fade into a quiet breath as he gave the pooch another pet. "I just don't get it, buddy." He shook his head and grabbed his jacket, heading towards the back door – if he was going to rant, he should at least do it where he wasn't going to wake Hinata.

The screen door clattered shut behind him and he slumped onto the porch steps. "He's my best friend besides you, Akamaru. I've known him for fucking ever, and I'm the one who fucking introduced him to her..." He shook his head as he fished out his lighter and lit up, taking a deep puff from an already half-burnt joint and watching the smoke float off before speaking again. "What the hell did he do to upset her like this, buddy? I didn't think that dumb ass had a mean bone in his body."

For a couple moments they sat there in quiet as Kiba worked on his joint and Akamaru enjoyed the intermittent ear scratches. "I should probably just ask her, but when I see her cry, I don't know what to do except find the prick that upset her and crash their head in. I just don't get it..."

He slumped backwards, letting his back rest on the rail as he stared at the last shreds of sunlight in the western sky, slowly starting to calm down as the pot took effect on his mind. "...I know I've said I was gonna take Neji's place... take care of her like a big brother... but hell if I ever wanted to beat the shit out of anyone who hurt Hana..." It was true his sister could defend herself just fine, but he definitely didn't like the things his brain was putting together.

"This is bullshit," he grumbled, taking another deep breath and shaking his head. "Seriously."

-********-

Every inch of his car had been shined perfectly; the intake vents cleaned, the hubcaps tightened, the sole scratch he'd found on his passenger door filled. He made a note not to park in that particular lot again any time soon... if Sasuke recalled right, his car'd been damaged last time he'd been there, too. "Some people just have no respect for others' property," he muttered, making one last visual pass under the hood, going over his mental checklist.

Somewhere, a little too close by, the front door slammed, and his plans for the evening immediately vacated his thoughts. As the sound of high heels beating up his hard wood floors echoes through the walls, accompanied quickly by the door slamming again and various screeching from two voices, he checked his pocket for his keys and considered the garage door opener for a moment. If he moved fast enough, he could be out of the driveway and down the block before she got her shoes off. Especially if he locked the garage door first.

It wasn't that he hated his girlfriend. No, if he hated her, he would have dumped her for one of those harpies that followed him around at bars and races, or one of the anorexic things his father introduced him to at police functions. Karin could be quite wonderful (when she wanted to be), was fairly beautiful (in that secretary sort of way), was a decent cook (something he definitely lacked in), and if nothing else was better to him than his left hand.

No, he just hated when his girlfriend and his best friend were in the same room for any period of time. And worse was when they were in the same car.

"...Wait, wasn't she supposed to be working until 11 tonight?"

He didn't have time to consider why she was back at 9:30 instead before the garage door flew open, revealing a very frazzled looking Karin, whose face melted from anger to near-crying relief at the sight of him. "Oh, Sasuke-kun! You _are_ home!" she swooned, rushing towards him and burying her face into his shoulder before he had time to so much as greet her.

"I am... why wouldn't I be?" One hand came up to rub her back out of reflex, his eyes glancing her over to be sure she hadn't been crying (nope... no crisis on his hands...) and then up to the doorway leading back into the house, watching as Suigetsu came up to the doorway.

For a moment, the two men's eyes locked, before the blond curled his lip into a sneer, crossed his eyes, and began to wave his arms around, mouthing what was most likely Karin's words from a moment before. The Uchiha's eyes narrowed sharply at his friend, who retorted by pointing one finger in a pistol shape and "firing" it, first at the redhead and then at himself.

"Oh darling, I had the most horrible, horrible day. The customers were just dreadful," Karin half-sobbed, looking up at him over the rim of her glasses with enormous puppy eyes, her overly glossed lip extended into a pout. "And that blonde bitch that thinks she owns the place – she tried to _fire_ me!"

"I'm sorry?" he offered, his tone just flat enough to nearly sound sincere, even as he secretly pondered how many years she must have spent in theater class. "Do you want me to – wait, fire? You didn't, did yo-"

"Of course I didn't!" she hissed, smacking him in the chest and taking a couple steps back. "Oh, you don't even care how I feel! You just don't want to have to shell out any money for me!" She stomped her foot, any sign of moisture in her eyes magically gone.

"That's not what I meant," he snapped back, grabbing her wrist before she could smack him again, though it wasn't like she could hurt him anyway. "I just want to know the whole situation."

"They were rude to me! What else do you need to know?!"

Sasuke shook his head, letting her arm go and using that hand to rub his temple slowly. "Nothing, I guess." He sighed – quietly, so as not to seem as annoyed as he was – and looked over at his car for a moment, skimming his checklist again. There were only two or three more things he needed to do before the race, so maybe he could...

"...don't you think, Sasuke? Sasuke? OH FOR GODS' SAKES!" Another hard stomp (how were her shoes not broken yet?) brought him back to reality, and he snapped his gaze back towards her. "You can't even listen to me for two seconds, can you?! You've got to be thinking about your goddamned car all the time!"

"I was just making sure I had everything done so I could spend the rest of the evening making you feel better," he half-lied, struggling not to roll his eyes. "Why don't you go wait for me inside, and I'll show you how much I'm thinking about you. Just give me a minute to get these caps back on and close the hood, then I'll be right in. I promise."

She smiled widely suddenly, throwing her arms around him and kissing him at the corner of his lips. "Okay, of course!" she squealed, racing back into the house, pausing only to turn back and wink at him. For a moment he genuinely smiled in response... She really was beautiful, when she wasn't angry.

He just wished she understood how important the work on his car really was.

-********-

Hinata awoke feeling slightly cold; it was, after all, October, and her living blanket appeared to have escaped since she had fallen asleep. For a drowsy moment she glanced around the room, licking her now-chapped lips to wet them, wondering why they tasted salty.

Then, as the memory hit her of her fiance's lips pressed so passionately to that girl's... She had to choke back a new sob, burying her face into her hands. "Naruto," she whispered, gnawing at her lip, "why?"

For a few minutes she sat in silence, tugging nervously on a lock of hair, staring at the wall and trying hard not to think. She knew that she wasn't emotionally ready to deal with it right now, especially not on their anniversary. '_Oh gods, that's right, it was our anniversary... I was supposed to meet him,_' she remembered, looking down at her unusually fancy dress and remembering why it was there. '_No, I'll worry about it tomorrow,_' she decided, wiping her eyes and stumbling to her feet. She was getting a little hungry, and found herself hoping that watching a movie and eating some pizza with Kiba would get her mind off the siuation.

She made it halfway across the room before her phone began to ring again, stopping her dead in her tracks. For a moment she stared at the ceiling, silently wondering, almost praying, about what to do, before she cautiously strode back over to answer the phone.

"He-Hello?" she stammered, bracing herself to hear his voice.

"Hinata! Oh geez, where are you? I've been trying to get ahold of you all night!" He didn't sound angry, just... some combination of excited and worried that she knew few people could manage.

"Oh... N-Naruto... I'm... at Kiba's," she admitted quietly, her cheeks burning as she realized that from his angle, she could look like the cheater now.

There was indeed a hint of dissappointment in his voice when he responded. "Whatcha doin over there? I thought we were supposed to meet for dinner tonight..."

"Oh! That was tonight? I'm so sorry Naruto... I... I thought that was next week," she lied, inhaling sharply after her last word to keep from freaking out. "Kiba..." she closed her eyes, trying to think of a lie he'd believe and that she wouldn't feel too awful about; her slightly superstitious nature made her worry that if she said "he got in a wreck", it'd happen. "Kiba's sick. I think it might be food poisoning," she embellished, playing with her hair again as she tried not to speak too fast, "so I'm over here taking care of him. I'll come home tomorrow."

"He's gonna be alright then?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. "If you wanna stay there longer, I can just come over there and see you both after work tomorrow."

"N-No, that's alright. He's already starting to do better, and Hana can take care of him once I go home... it'll... be okay..."

Hinata closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the wall, knowing that her last words were meant for herself, not Naruto or Kiba. Things weren't okay, not at all, but she'd find a way to get through this and do what was right for Naruto.

"Okay, well, let me know if you change your mind. Love you, Hina-chan," he cooed, causing the girl bite her lip so as not to start sobbing again right then.

"Yes, Naruto... I love you too..."


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks everyone for everything so far! Have another chapter.

Thanks to my beta, NobleSp- oh, what's that? You changed your name? Okay, thanks to my beta Kizoku Seishin for shooting this back at me so quick again, also! And for throwing me the corrections well after he should have been in bed! You're wonderful.

**Burning Leaves - 9**

The TV rather noisily declared that the game had ended, and in the same second, an Xbox controller found itself halfway across the room, struggling not to crack at the seems. "That's bullshit, man. Quit pulling cheap shit while I'm distracted!" Suigetsu snarled, smacking Juugo in the arm before leaning back against the couch with a huff. The larger man grinned at him, handing him his controller before wandering over to pick up the abused one. "Oh no you don't, man. I have no idea what you've done to this controller, but you can't be handing it to me for any good reason. Gimme back mine!" he snorted, snatching it from Juugo's hands before he had a chance to sit down.

Juugo simply shrugged and took back his own controller, waiting as Suigetsu took full advantage of his status as first player to pick every aspect of the next round, right down to not even bothering to ask what map he wanted to use. Not that it really mattered anyway; his ass was grass regardless, despite his claims that the opposite was true.

"Life ain't fair, y'know that man?" The blond began his ranting again as the game commenced. "You're expecting me to play well while my best bud's in there, screwing that hot bitch silly. Seriously. He has no shame, I tell ya Juugo. He's more than content to make her squeal all night long, just to taunt us. I can barely stand it!" His elbow slammed the couch as he died again, only for his rant to continue as soon as he respawned.

"Seriously. That man gets fucking anything he wants, and he doesn't even know how good he's got it. He doesn't even take advantage of any of it! It's as though none of this shit even exists!"

A loud explosion signified another death, accompanied by his foot stomping the floor, momentarily flattening the carpet beneath him. "The nerve of that guy, seriously. The least he could do is act like he enjoys it all. He used to be so fucking happy, but just because his brother died, he had to go and get all _serious_ on us. Now he doesn't party, or drink, or even play goddamned games with us anymore! He's gotta get over it sooner or later!"

"Player two wins," the game bellowed monotonously, and this time the controller separated itself from its battery pack upon impact with the floor.

"But no," he groaned, "he has to go screw that stupid fucking whore instead of hanging out with the cool kids..." he growled, barely audible over said woman's screams a room away.

"Me thinks thou doth protest too much," Juugo chuckled, retrieving the controller and sitting back down, a quiet smile on his face.

"Me thinks you talk weird, asshat," he snorted back, reaching over to crack open another can of Bud or Pepsi, whichever his hand happened to pull out of the cooler. "Seriously, don't you have anything useful to say, instead of just being all fancy and philosophical?"

"Like reminding you that we've all known each other for years, and it seems you're just jealous that he pays more attention to her, who provides several things to him, than you, who sits around and runs up his electric bill?"

"What did I just say about philosophical crap, dude? Seriously, knock it off."

Juugo chuckled, shaking his head and standing to wander back towards the back door, their conversation paused as another of Karin's scream echoed through the house. "Or maybe," he added, nodding towards the closed door, "you're jealous of him..."

"For having her? As if. The chicks I get are a million times better," he cackled, only to be met by a raised eyebrow before the sliding glass door shut behind Juugo. For a second he stared at the screen, then his controller, then out at his now-smoking friend, realizing suddenly that the erotic background noise had finally ceased. "Damn't, man, not fair to run away right when I return to full power!" he shouted, leaping to his feet and throwing back open the door.

-********-

_'Damn't... Should I even bother with Tuesday's race still? The pot's only $2000... That's not good for much bet using for another bet, it won't even pay for my new engine. Is that thing even in yet? I need to call and check... Even if it's in, that damn cop's still going to be there, and I don't even know what he looks like, so I can't watch out for him. And even if I could... I still can't make it down the mountain... Damn't, I know it shouldn't bug me this much, it's been years, but I can never get in a good state of mind to race in October.'_

"Ohhhh! Oh, Sasuke, yesss!!"

_'I don't even know three of the guys that'll be there... Just Suigetsu and that guy with the Skyline, but I've yet to see him come in even second. Two grand isn't worth my whole afternoon, not after the Nox that race would take me. Maybe I'll just stay home... Throw Suigetsu a bone, tell him some shit about my transmission giving out. Maybe then he'll pay for something for a change.'_

"Baby... Mnnn! Harder! Yeah, give it to me! Sasukeeeee!"

_'Why does she have to be so loud? It's like she's purposefully advertising to the guys that we're in here screwing...'_ Sasuke's eyes traveled up his girlfriend, watching her breasts bounce as she bobbed up and down enthusiastically, before his thoughts consumed him again. '_No... Suigetsu wouldn't pay for anything but a pizza or two. The rest would just go to a weekend of partying. Then I'd be stuck awake at 3AM, listening to __**him**__ instead, and then the girls would still be here at noon, and I'd have to chase them all out, and then there's the upholstery cleaning costs...'_

His fingers sank slightly into her hips, pushing her harder, the added force causing him to gasp slightly and let his eyes shut. '_Not bad at all...'_ he groaned, wishing he could actually care about the situation long enough to actually enjoy the way Karin was riding him, but he was still just too frustrated. '_It's bad enough she interrupts me from working on my car when she knows I have a race this week, but then I had to listen to all her bitching about Suigetsu' –_ he cringed; his friend was _not_ what he wanted to be thinking about when he was actually starting to enjoy sex – '_but on top of it, she has to be cryptic about what she's even angry about. It almost feels like she's hiding something.'_

"Sasuke, Sasuke! Fuck.... Mnnn!"

He opened one eye and watched her for a moment again, his gaze focused on one piece of hair that was stuck to her lip gloss, one hand reaching up to pull it free. She took the motion as an invitation for a kiss, which he returned briefly, cutting it off when she squealed again a little too close to his ear.

_'There's got to be an easier way to shut her up... I wouldn't have minded if she wanted to do this later, but she's just got no respect for my schedule.'_ He managed to not quite sigh, hands returning to her thighs as his thoughts found their track again.

_'I guess I should stick with the race... I've got nothing to lose by going. It's not like I could lose to a bunch of cheap amateurs. And whatever they're doing that's got the police after them, that's there problem, not mine, so I'm just not going to worry about it. If they're in enough shit that someone's willing to blackmail the chief of police over it, that's their problem, not mine.'_

"Yeaaaaah! Oh god, Sasuke, I'm gonna, I'm gonna-"

She let out a scream and collapsed on top of him, her breathing ragged, her damp hair scattered across his chest. Slowly she quieted, letting out a yawn as she quickly fell asleep, exhausted from her climax. Sasuke sighed, carefully rolled Karin off of his chest, and pulled a sheet over her, leaving a chaste kiss on her cheek before sitting up.

_'Even if it was her idea, not mine... at least she's quiet now. All that screaming and babbling isn't even half as bad as her damn rants, but it's still too much after a while...'_ He shook his head and let out a quiet sigh, stroking her hair quietly. _'She looks so beautiful and peaceful now... so why does she have to be such a devil when she's awake? "Suigetsu's such an asshole!", "My customers are all assholes!", "My supervisor's am asshole!", "You're such an asshole for not picking me up today! If you cared, you wouldn't send that asshole Suigetsu to get me instead of doing it yourself, and-!" "And, and, and!"'_

He groaned, rubbing his forehead and trying NOT to remember that part. Though, upon further thought, it _was_ a valid question... _'Wait... where the hell's my cell phone?'_ He glared at the bedside table he normally left it on. _'Damn't... I must have left it in the kitchen again.'_

Upon further thought, he realized he had indeed left the phone out in the open, and Suigetsu (the good samaritan that he was) had obviously taken it upon himself to be the redhead's chauffeur when she'd left work early. His only sign that he and Juugo had left before had been a call of, "Hey man, we're out of Bud again, be back in a bit!" accompanied by his front door threatening to fall off its hinges a moment later. _'We just bought two cases yesterday, though... Gods, he wasn't even __**trying**__ to lie about it this time. He just wanted to go pick her up, probably just to annoy me. Or her. Or probably both of us.'_

He stood up, seriously considering going out to have a word with his friend right then and there... But a glance down reminded him that he had moderately more important matters to attend to, like finishing what his girlfriend had started so he could get back to work. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder to be sure she was still sleeping soundly, managing a soft smile at her sleeping form, and took off for the master bathroom.

-********-

Tenten clicked another link and showed a long list of specs, only about half of which Shikamaru could really understand, but the other half he could at least guess at, so he simply nodded from his place over her shoulder and stood back up. "Yeah, that looks about right. So I can go buy that tomorrow morning, then? Or you doing it for me?" he nudged the girl with a smirk.

"You can do your own dirty work, I've had enough trouble for the week," she laughed, spinning her chair around to face him before leaning back. "I'll text you the address and some directions, but you and your little scooter get to make it there on your own."

"Yeah, yeah," he mock-sighed, stepping back to lean against the nearest workbench. "How quickly do you think you can get it spruced up once I get it in here?"

"Depends on what your definition of 'spruced up' is. Could be a couple hours, could be a few days, it just depends on how powerful you need the machine and how hard to find the parts are. The more you're willing to pay, the easier it'll be for me to get what you need."

He nodded, thinking hard about it for a moment, staring at his hands as he did the mental calculations. "This better be worth it," he muttered, licking his lips for want of a cigarette as the stress started to weigh on him. "Damn't, I wonder how long I can take before she gets angry again..."

"'She'?" Tenten interrupted, causing him to glance up and then rub his neck sheepishly as he realized he'd been thinking aloud. "Which 'she' are we talking about? The one from back-"

"Yeah, her. What other 'she' is there? All the other ones have lasted a week, tops, before they bored me half to death. They're all so frivolous..."

"So you're building this car just for her? Birthday present or something?"

He frowned, making eye contact again. "Sort of. More like an apology..."

Tenten couldn't help but chuckle, swaying her chair side to side as she got more interested in the situation. "That's a loud, expensive apology."

"You don't know the half of it..." He shook his head, looking around for something to change the subject to. "...So I shared my story, you gonna share yours?" he suddenly quipped, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"Er... It's not something I really feel like talking about," she chuckled nervously. "Let's just say there was a blast from my past as well. Strolled into town last night and thought he could make up for being gone for three years. I taught him a lesson that'll hopefully take him at least that much time to forget again!" Her fist met her palm rather forcefully as she grinned victoriously.

"So you told me even though you didn't want to talk about it?" Shikamaru teased, smiling a bit and crossing his arms behind his head. "Yeah... three years is a long time for things to change in..."

Tenten shook her head in amusement as she rose from her seat, stretching her arms out before motioning towards the door. "Come on. As long as we're sailing in the same boat, we might as well ﻿enjoy a couple drinks to go with it." She opened the door, her keys already in hand, and waved for him to go ahead of her. "I'll drive if you'll pay, scooter boy."

"Geez," Shikamaru muttered, wandering past her to wait outside the office, sighing in dismay, "you women are all the same."

-********-

Midway through typing her yet another text message, Naruto flipped his phone shut and willed himself not to keep bothering her. He was trying not to worry about them too badly, though the temptation to go over and check up on Kiba was still there. He had no idea what his friend could have gotten himself into, but with his history, anything was a possibility. He knew, though, that if Hinata said Kiba was going to be okay, he was going to be okay, and that was enough for him right then.

Still, the night was shaping up to be pretty lonely without his lovely fiancée around. He sighed, wishing it wasn't quite so late so that it might be easier to round up a friend or two for a guy's night out, and for a moment, for lack of a better idea, he nearly wandered over to round up Konohamaru.

He thought better of it after realizing that corrupting a minor might not be the best use of his evening, however awesome and relatively legal his definition of corruption was in this case.

He traipsed down the stairs, typing a mass text message to most everyone he thought might be up (as many of them as his phone would allow, at least), and nearly tripping down the stairs as a result. "Who's up to hang out in about an hour?"

The first response came about the time he was fetching his jacket from the back of the sofa. Lee had responded, "Sorry my friend, but I'll be in bed before then. Lots of sleep is important to good health! I'd be happy to meet you for a jog in the morning, however." Naruto just shook his head and laughed, sending back a "no thanks". _'A morning jog? In October? I hope he has a gym membership,'_ Naruto thought with a laugh, clapping his phone shut and slipping it back in his pocket.

The only other response came just as he climbed into his car, this time from Sakura. She was working the night shift at the hospital... but she was inviting him to breakfast. "Hmm... Why not? We didn't have much of a chance to catch up yet, and I'm sure Gramps wouldn't mind if I come in late tomorrow. Just hope Hinata's home by then." He sent off a simple "sure!" reply, then double-checked his message history to make sure no one else had responded.

"Well, buddy," he sighed, patting the steering wheel before turning the ignition on his DNX, "looks like it's just you and me tonight. Not that that's a bad thing."

-********-

Sasuke strode back out of his room some time later, his hair still a bit damp from his shower, but overall he looked more crisp and collected than he had when Karin had dragged him in there over an hour earlier. His friends were out on the porch, laughing, smoking, and drinking, and for a moment he nearly wanted to join them.

But behind him, his car called to him, and instead he took the door to the garage, flipping on the lights and locking the door behind him.

"I guess you're as tuned as you'll ever be, aren't you?" he sighed, placing a hand on the hood and sighing as his eyes glazed over his car. He needed to regain his confidence somehow, though, and if working on his car wasn't going to help...

He'd have to drive up to the mountain and try again. Tonight.


	10. Chapter 10

Well THIS was too long coming. x.x I've had it done for over a month, but, I've had editing I needed to get done... and let me tell you, working with some of these characters is a challenge for me. I think you can guess which ones.

I'm excited to say Nikko's been drawing me some new fanart, so that'll be posted up soon. So much love for him for that. And plenty of love too to my beta Kizoku Seishin, as always. Without you two, this story would still be on chapter 2... Thanks for un-lazy-ing me, guys.

This also officially marks the longest I've kept going on a story... well, ever. I only have one story now with more chapters, and the word count was considerably less. So I guess I'm "dedicated" now, eh?

**Burning Leaves - 10**

Naruto wasn't sure where to race. He heard no official plans, but there were some places in town where one could find cars ready to roll. His neon orange DNX was flashy enough to catch the attention of anyone who might be interested—whether they were looking or not. He headed on up the Boulevard, past the clubs and the bars where the pros spent their nights off, grinning at anyone who cared to look at a stoplight.

It was as Sakura had said; his car was his baby, his pride and joy, second only to Hinata, and that was only because he knew his car could be replaced with a better model.

There seemed to be little competition that night; only a couple teenagers who he quickly outdid within a few blocks, and who ran off around the next corner with their tails between their legs. There was certainly no one who could outrun him on a straightaway, and he'd been racing this part of town longer than some of these kids had had licenses... There were no serious challengers here.

He stopped for a fresh tank of gas and a Mountain Dew, then turned down the freeway for the 'burbs. He hoped there'd be some action towards the outskirts of town, where the ritzier people – like Hinata's family – lived. Even if they didn't have the best driving skill, most had the cash to make their car fast enough to keep up with the demon for a while.

He took a promising exit, one where he'd had a few races before, and slid his car to a stop at the light at the base of the off ramp. The perpendicular light turned yellow, and a fancy silver car lazed up to it, its blinker pointed at the on-ramp opposing Naruto.

The windshield of the Spyder was too dark for the blond to discern more about the figure inside other than he was looking in his direction. That, coupled with the way the blinker suddenly turned off was enough to know that he'd caught his attention. While his windows weren't quite as dark, Naruto doubted the driver could see his face either. Instead of signaling with his hands or trying to use words, he used the universal signal right before he turned to drive slowly towards the stoplight on the other side of the overpass.

He flashed his lights twice at the driver.

In his rear view mirror, two twin sets of lights pulsed back at him, and the car pulled through the intersection long before the light could turn green.

They both eased to a stop at the line, waiting despite the light already being green; this was to be a fair race from an even start. Both drivers knew what they were doing; the Spyder's driver was obviously not some kid like all those that had challenged Naruto so far this night.

----

From his seat, Sasuke's heart was pounding. His eyes glancing over towards the brightly colored Acura beside him, then back up at the now-red light repeatedly, quickly enough that the light and its reflection off the car began to blur together quickly. He couldn't see the driver, but he didn't need to either. He never saw a DNX in person before, and he'd heard of only one car like it in town, one that looked like just half a car, made of fire, burning through the night, from the way it was painted. He never believed the rumors, but here it was. Either it was the car he'd heard of for years, or a good imitation.

This was the test he'd been waiting for. The sign that he must continue racing. That someday, he could surpass his brother.

That night was tonight.

Not on the mountain as he'd expected it to be, but here, just blocks from home, with a chance encounter.

The cross light turned to yellow, then red.

Both engines flared as their light turned green, sending them shooting down the pavement.

The road was desolate; nothing but four lanes of asphalt far off into the distance, marred only where the streets split and made their way towards the sparse neighborhoods of the scarcely populated area. The road was theirs and theirs alone, allowing the two drivers to let their vehicles tear up the avenue.

Sasuke was under no dissolution over the presumable gap in quality between their cars. While his would have been better straight off the dealership with raw horsepower, it would be foolish to believe his opponent had not spent just as much time tweaking his car as he had his. Otherwise, the "demon of Konoha" would never have enough notoriety for word to reach this far towards the edge of town.

His foot was not even to the floor while they stayed mostly neck and neck, both cars challenging the other with each octave and gear their engines rose. Each sped up just enough to start to pass the other, only to be passed an instant later.

Both drivers seemed resistant to put their full effort in the race; perhaps they were used to easy matches where their needles barely made the orange zone, let alone red?

But this was real, and they knew both cars take more.

----

"Damn... this is as fast as I usually have to go," Naruto muttered, his glances over his shoulder growing increasingly short as speed made it more and more dangerous to take his eyes off the road. "If he's from this area, he's got the advantage. I have no idea what the roads are like."

Sasuke's familiarity with the territory was only a minor advantage. The relative length of his opponent's car gave him worse handling, but it also allowed him to take turns faster and hold more of his speed there than Sasuke's Spyder could.

-********-

The passenger door slammed and Tenten glanced up at Shikamaru, who was frowning at his phone. "Something wrong?"

He blinked, then shook his head. "Just got a message from a friend."

"Must've been a pretty bad one, you had a hella sour look on your face."

He chuckled, turning his blackberry off and sliding it into his pocket. "Nothing important. Just a lot of whining."

It was less than a second later when Tenten's own phone trilled, causing the two to glance between each other. She pulled it out and looked the message over. "Whining, hmm? So you two know each other?" she smirked, giving him an accusatory glance. "Naruto's just bored. Maybe we should invite him to join us here."

"...Naruto? I didn't get anything from him." Shikamaru blinked and reached into his pocket, nearly pulling back out his phone. "Otherwise, I would have said something. I introduced him to your garage, so of course I'd know you knew him." His eyebrows furrowed deeper as he ran his thumb across the Blackberry for a moment before retracting his hand; if he had a message from his hyper friend, it was bound to be identical to Tenten's. "Let's see how crowded things are, and how the scene is. No use inviting him if it's just going to be for half an hour; that would bore him."

Tenten nodded, strolling towards the curb and clicking the lock on her keychain, her car beeping behind them. "Fair enough. I could use a little relaxation anyway."

-********-

"That bastard!"

Chouji winced at the volume of Ino's screech, hesitating outside his door and listening carefully for any more noise to come from hers next door. His hand clenched, considering reaching for her doorknob to go in and check on her, but just then her shouting started again.

"It's all his fucking fault and he won't even answer the phone! Insensitive _prick_!" Inside her room there was a flurry of beeping noises from both her cell and the house phone. "What the hell is with Shikamaru," she growled, slamming what was probably the phone down yet again. "The _nerve_ of him, really, sending that stupid bitch to the restaurant on _my_ shift, then jabbering with her the whole time, and now he won't answer the phone for me?!"

He recognized her exasperated half sigh, half scream, followed by a heavy flop of her splaying out on her bed. "She's the one he hates, so why is he ignoring _me_?! I am _never_ doing him a favor _again_!!"

Chouji sighed quietly from his place outside her door, pulling his ear away from it slowly; her screams were getting painful even through the door. How their friend's injury had become a personal affront to her was beyond him, but it was best to comfort her anyway, otherwise this tirade wouldn't go away any time soon. He opened his mouth to call her name, reaching up to knock on the door at the same time.

Her phone rang before his knuckles actually reached the door, so he paused in place, guiltily eavesdropping for a moment more to see if their friend had finally responded to Ino's insistent pestering.

"Finally! It's about - oh, Sai! ...No, no, don't worry, I was expecting a call from someone else. Yeah, it's alright, I can talk. I wanted to talk to someone about my day anyway..." Her words were suddenly much tamer, with a melodic coo about them.

_'Good...'_ Chouji thought to himself, lowering his arm and retreating back to his own room, a smile now on his face. _'She's got someone to talk to. She needs that right now.'  
_

_-********-_

_  
_Inside her room, Ino had been frantically dialing every few seconds on the house phone, ranting as she went. All the while her thumbs were tapping away on her cell phone, pausing only when Shikamaru's drolling voice mailbox started every few seconds, sending a series of nasty text messages to all those involved, particularly said "insensitive prick".

What was _wrong_ with him, anyway? She and Chouji had been his friends forever – since long, long before that bitch had ever even looked at him. She had no right to him, no right to do that to him, and definitely no right to be in _her_ – okay, Chouza-papa's, but while she was there is was hers too – restaurant, no matter who her brother was. Fancy-pants yakuza bitch. "Who... do... you... think... you... are..." she hissed under her breath as she typed each word, hitting send and letting out another frustrated screach.

Flopping back on her bed she growled at the ceiling, hanging up the house phone and dropping it on the floor. "She's the one he hates, so why is he ignoring _me_?! I am _never_ doing him a favor _again_!!"

For a moment gnawed at her lip ring, playing with it and the stud on her tongue as she tried not to cry. The tears were welling, though, and she knew she'd let him get to her again – she was just too easy for him to get to. Sakura, too... any of her friends could make her cry easily. On one hand, she knew she needed to get thicker skin... but on the other, they didn't have to be such _jerks_ all the time, either.

_'Cause if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it, if you like it then you shoulda put a-'_

She sat up abruptly and grabbed her phone, flipping it open and pulling it to her ear without even checking the caller ID. Obviously it was Shikamaru finally getting around to calling her back. "Finally! It's about - oh, Sai! ...No, no, don't worry, I was expecting a call from someone else." ...Except it, well, _wasn't_ him. It was Sai. And that... made everything better, definitely. She grinned widely, laying back down and stretching out. "Yeah, it's alright, I can talk. I wanted to talk to someone about my day anyway..." she made sure to sound as bored as possible – no need for him to know she was so stressed out over some other guy, especially when he wasn't important like her Beau.

"I really can't understand the nerve of some girls, you know?" she whined at him. "There's this bitch I know, and she just... ugh! I don't even want to go into what she did to me this week..."

-********-

Finally Sasuke was gaining ground - the way it was _supposed_ to be. His car was more expensive and powerful, there was no reason he should have been losing to this random punk loser. That's exactly what he'd decided his opponent had to be, too. The "demon" nickname must have come from a bunch of pathetic teenagers with no real skill - this guy didn't stand a chance against him.

Both cars were in high gear, and Sasuke's hand twitched over the clutch, considering switching to sixth gear. He glanced from the road ahead to the lights growing smaller in his rear view mirror. He smirked and started to let up on the gas, eyes trailing back to the dotted line ahead.

It was just a glance of blue across the corner of his vision at first, but it took him less than a second to realize there was now a set of rollers going in his mirrors.

"Shit," he growled, throwing on his brakes as quickly as was safe, glancing around for an exit as the cop pulled onto the road behind him, between him and his opponent. The patroller hadn't gotten up to speed, though, so the "demon" was quickly catching up with him.

----

Naruto felt his heart jump as the cop car popped out a couple blocks in front of him, braking just a little too quickly, his car grinding for an instant before he managed to shift down in gear. "Tenten's gonna kill me," he grumbled, eyes skimming for a way out; if he was lucky, his place in back would mean he could get away while the copper went after his faster opponent.

He took the first hard left he spotted, killing his lights as soon as he saw that there was a decent amount of straightaway in front of him, and nothing for him to slam into between the corner and the next stoplight. "Sorry bud, have a good night!" he hollered with a chuckle, although he knew the driver of the Spyder couldn't hear him.

Sure, he felt _somewhat_ sorry for the guy, as he was looking at one hell of a fine, and that was assuming he _didn't_ get his car impounded right away. That was the risk with the sport - be fast or smart enough to keep away from the cops, or rich enough to pay them off.


End file.
